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Wyoming Lottery First Day Sales Strong

WyoLotto

The first Powerball and MegaMillions tickets were sold in the state Sunday. The Wyoming Lottery Corporation – or WyoLotto - reported nearly $200,000 in sales on its opening day. Natrona County sold the most tickets of any Wyoming county, taking in about $36,000.

Jon Clontz is the CEO of the Lottery Corporation. He said the day’s sales exceeded his expectations.

"I had really hoped to break $100,000 and maybe do a little bit better, so when I saw we were at 150 and 160 and 170 right at 200,000 I was thrilled. Especially since we didn’t even start selling tickets until noon," he said.

The tickets went on sale after contest winner and Sheridan resident Mary Ogg bought the state’s first lotto ticket.

The first 6 million dollars’ worth of lottery profits will go to local governments, with any extra contributed to a fund for schools.

Sunday’s sales were impressive, but Clontz said not to expect instant-win scratch tickets to be offered in the state anytime soon. A law still prohibits the distribution of those tickets in Wyoming. Still, Clontz says the lottery is looking to expand.

"Having two products in the gaming portfolio, it’s not a lot of products but the legislature wanted to start off with a smaller footprint. And the tentative goal right now is to place a couple more games into the gaming portfolio in the earlier spring," he said.

Those games would have smaller jackpots, but they would also only be in Wyoming. Powerball and MegaMillions are both national games.

Clontz says if customers want scratch tickets, they should write to their state representatives to change the current law.

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